Re: scam at WALE

["'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@world.std.com>]

On Tue, 11 Aug 1998, Eric Jacobs wrote:

> I have been involved on occasion with the brokering of radio shows,and
> have never heard of such an arrangement. I would contact the police in
> WALE's COL and press larceny charges. Maybe a civil suit for breach of
> contract as well. Lawyers? Do these people have a chance at these
> money-grubbing vultures? I'd also suggest sending copies of their story
> to WALE's sponsors/landlord/bank and the local paper.

I wouldn't suggest any such thing unless these people are anxious to be
sued for libel.

Unfortunately, unorthodox crimes sometimes are hard to get a
law-enforcement agency to investigate.  We hear a lot these days about
"theft of identity" crimes, but I had a client some years ago who had that
problem, before it became a fashionable subject for feature writers, and
it was hard to get any law-enforcement agency interested.  It's hard work,
and they have a lot of easier work that they can do.

I'd go to the local police and the D.A.'s office, in addition to the
agencies I mentioned before.  They should be prepared to have a lot of
agencies show little or no interest, but they just may find one person at
one agency willing to go after this.  It helps if they actually do have
hard documentation of these events.  But my guess is that nothing at
all was in writing, so that the station people can deny they said
things.  The fact that others have similar stories may help, if these
others are willing to talk to a law enforcement agency.  

One thing in their favor is that, in their written account at least, they
come across as normal people, not crackpots.  That's a big help.  If they
come across as normal people in person as well, that will help even more.

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 A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                                         617.367.0468
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